Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 624 056 Serbian version of the large-scale military training
Belgrade is quite far away, and it is more convenient for Solovyov to return to Vidin via Nis. He can also take a look at the Serbian siege measures on the way.

Karageorge used to be a soldier, but he was just a junior officer in the "Free Serbia" Corps. In this army formed by the Austrians, Serbs could only serve as low-level officers.

This is different from the situation of the Croats or Slovenes, many of whom are generals in the regular forces of the Austrian army.

Regardless of what will happen to Croatia and Serbia in the future, the Serbian army is indeed their traditional skill.

In Yugoslavia, there were guerrillas everywhere, and then they got the enemy into trouble.

In a larger-scale regular battle, Serbia will have a hard time performing, and this is something that needs to be overcome urgently.

After all, apart from Bosnia, the current situation in the northwestern regions of the Ottoman Empire is not optimistic. They only control Belgrade and Niš, and are still hiding in the city.

But they still control the passage to Montenegro. When they controlled Vidin and Nis at the same time, Serbia's contacts with its two allies, Montenegro and Russia, were cut off.

Montenegro has never been completely conquered by the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years, and the Turkish army always gets into trouble when it arrives here. The reason why this country has continued to exist is that it is extremely poor. Apart from grazing sheep and stones on the mountains, there are few valuable things in this place.

Moreover, the local troublemakers are more capable of fighting than the villagers of Wangdai, so it is difficult for anyone from the surrounding areas to occupy his territory.

If Serbia relies on its own strength, the only friendly force it can count on is probably Montenegro.

However, the previous attempt to open up the transportation lines failed, which led to the Serbian army's difficulties in 1809. In particular, the failure of the Battle of Niš allowed the Turkish army to advance straight into Belgrade in half a month, which also forced Karageorge to abandon the city and continue guerrilla warfare.

Now that the Russian army has arrived, all the Turkish troops that can fight have been attracted to the lower reaches of the Danube. For Serbia, there is no better opportunity than this.

Therefore, Karageorge still hopes to recapture the two cities and then get in touch with Montenegro.

Although Montenegro cannot provide much support, we can obtain material support from overseas through smuggling or trade.

If Russia and Britain were to cease fire, the Russian fleet would also have the potential to accomplish this goal.

Karageorge thought so at the time. Now that the Russian army has eliminated the Turkish army in Vidin, the two armies have finally been united.

But his army's level was really too poor when it came to attacking the city.

After watching the demonstration, Solovyov began to scratch his head.

"If that's the case, it will be difficult to capture even a fortress, not to mention Niš. If you really want to carry out blasting operations, you have to dig trenches and move forward. This is the most basic method of siege. However, this place is mountainous and the terrain is relatively complex. Some places may not be suitable for digging trenches. In that case, you have to use bunkers and fortifications. Don't rush forward like this! I was also promoted from a second lieutenant officer. Regular troops don't fight like this."

By saying this, he had already taken into consideration the feelings of Karageorge and the Serbian people.

"Sir, what should we do in this case?"

"After getting the new weapons, don't send out soldiers using cold weapons to attack like this. It won't have any effect."

Solovyov took a "brown bass", removed the bayonet, and demonstrated it to the Serbian officers around him according to the infantry regulations.

"We need to fight, and there should be no bayonets on our rifles. They are always useful when fighting with the enemy. Don't learn from the Turks who think that bayonets cannot reflect a man's bravery. You know, soldiers who can fight hand-to-hand are the most courageous fighters. I have heard about your performance, and you are often able to use inferior weapons to fight against superior Turkish enemies, but courage alone is not enough."

The army does need to be regularized. What Solovyov could think of was to conduct "large-scale military training", which involves some techniques.

Niš and Belgrade were controlled by the Turks, but the Turkish troops in Bosnia were weak and most of their forces were deployed in Belgrade, while the Turkish troops in the south were blocked by the Russian army.

These nearly 40,000 Turkish troops were indeed two large-scale enemies, and it would be difficult for the Serbs to defeat them on their own.

The siege must still continue, but military training exercises must also be carried out while the enemy is besieged.

The Serbs were initially excited about the distribution of new weapons, but the army had to be reorganized on the spot.

The rebel army itself has a military organization with very Serbian characteristics. After understanding the situation, Solovyov also found that this organizational structure is more reliable. From companies to regiments, Karageorge, the commander-in-chief, is still at the top, and there is no need to make any changes.

Even if we want to change it, we have to wait until we have both Belgrade and Niš under our control.

It is not easy to get these soldiers to form habits. Even if Karageorge brought some veterans who had served in the Austrian army, it was difficult to correct them.

When the Serbs were in the most difficult times, they didn't even have the opportunity to organize training. Their daily schedule was marching and fighting.

However, although their level of organization was up to standard, it was still somewhat inferior to that of later guerrilla forces.

Now they can take a breath, and the local troops in the city are cowardly and dare not take the initiative to attack, but just stay in the city.

The situation in Belgrade is not so bad, but the scale of Nis is much smaller.

Although this place has a long history, it is said to be the birthplace of Constantine the Great, so it is quite old.

However, due to years of war and the methods that the Turks usually adopted against towns and villages that dared to resist in their territory, the local population was very limited and could not provide much food.

That’s it, the Turkish army didn’t dare to break out.

For the Serbs outside the city, this was a great opportunity to train their troops, and they quickly began to get used to fighting in lines.

However, three horizontal rows could not guarantee the width of the battle line for the Serbs, whose troops were not large.

Moreover, there are many complex aspects in infantry tactics. For the Serbs, they are able to maintain two horizontal rows and switch back and forth between line infantry and skirmisher combat modes, which has kept up with the world trend.

But the habit of forming an array and making them form a strategy is not necessary for the time being.

Because the Russian action was sudden and their food reserves were limited, the Turks had actually begun killing horses in order to supplement their meat.

On the contrary, it was the Serbian mountain people outside the city and some cavalrymen in better condition. In this environment, the action patterns of both sides were reversed.

Without horses, the Turkish cavalry would lose their mobility and would only be able to fight bravely and aggressively.

Sometimes, the scene was really pitiful, with only the infantry left, like an ancient Roman farce.

Although infantry is important, without cavalry, the combat effectiveness of such an army is not guaranteed. However, for a unit, the commander is also very important.

Solovyov stayed in the Serbian camp outside the city at night and began to think about this problem.

Among the Serbian women he met, most were taller than him, and the proportion was not low.

The journey back to Vidin took five days for the infantry.

However, for the baggage troops, it will definitely take longer to transport.

But these officers, even if we admit that they are courageous, they are more courageous.

Maybe this is a special matching mechanism for the Balkans.

Solovyov also wanted these officers to learn, but under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, many people were illiterate.

Cultural figures like Duric and Vuko Karadzic are indeed rare.

Karageorge and Dobniak had some knowledge of tactics, but the other Serbian officers had very little knowledge.

It is too late to promote literacy. What we need to do now is to make them understand some basic methods.

If that doesn't work, then the strategies and tactics can be copied from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the marching and formation can be carried out according to the new standards of the Russian Army, and a group of officers should be trained quickly.

In this regard, he is not without a solution.

It is now 1810, so of course some modern tactics cannot be used, but they are not completely impossible.

We cannot use the basic infantry squad of the "three-three system", but there is no problem in deploying three companies or three battalions. In essence, this tactic is a refinement of the original infantry tactics.

PS: They are the fourth-class people in the United States. They also had similar infantry squad tactics before the Pacific War. This is not an exclusive copyright, but a kind of convergent evolution in the military.

And there is another advantage. Probably the mountain people in Serbia, apart from mountain dwellers, are miners. The work they do is either digging holes or blasting. In short, it is relatively easy to teach them how to quickly get started with tunnel blasting.

In addition, the Serbs are generally tall, and it looks like they have directly turned ordinary infantry into grenadiers.

It seems that some of the Russian army's elite troops are not of such high quality when compared with the rest.

This is because the Serbian armed uprising was a spontaneous one, so naturally the best soldiers joined the army. Even many of the few intellectuals in Serbia joined the army.

But when it comes to Russia, the landlords here will drag their feet. When recruiting soldiers, many serfs contributed by the manors are obviously not qualified as soldiers, and the good ones may not be selected.

The more reliable ones are probably those civilians who voluntarily join the army, but their number is also limited.

But even so, the Russian army's combat effectiveness is still considerable.

Solovyov felt envious when he saw these Serbs, and even wanted to take some of them back to serve as grenadiers.

He even had no psychological pressure in poaching. I have to add that his other senior brother, General Miloradovich, whose ancestors came from the Balkans to serve in Russia, is now also a high-ranking general and can even serve as the military governor of Kiev.

Of course, he couldn't do it openly now. If he left his current position, he could consider it.

Even in private, he could find that of Karadzic's two cousins, Radovan Karadzic was obviously more active and was very satisfied with serving in the Russian army.

Wu Ke lost one leg due to rheumatism, so he could only be an intellectual.

But Radovan could. Solovyov even specifically told Mihlima: "Go and call Karadzic."

"But there are two Karadzic."

"Don't want the shabby one with the cane."

Mihlima left his tent and quickly came to Karadzic.

"Sir, why are you looking for me so late?"

"Durichi arranged for you to be my adjutant. I think you have good skills. Do you want to serve in the Russian army for a long time?"

"If you say that, I'm willing to follow you. Karageorge is a good person, but he has a bad temper. Following him may not be a good future. I am different from Vuko. He is a cultured person and likes to write poetry. If I can serve in the Russian army for a long time, I may be of greater help to Serbia. I can gain experience abroad and be able to lead troops when I come back, which is better than the current officers."

"I was worried that you wouldn't come with me. Have a glass of water first. The water in Serbia is really good."

It can even be said that with the right ingredients, it is a very good natural soda water. Solovyov still misses soda.

Although there is soda water in big cities, it is not strong enough.

"But you won't be here for long. I suppose you want to quickly end the war in Turkey and return to Petersburg?"

"The war against Turkey cannot be dragged on. It will be disadvantageous to Russia if it lasts too long. We have to end it quickly. It is best to let the Turks recognize your independence so that we can focus on guarding against the French."

"Ha, the French. I find it funny to think that the Croatians are in league with them. Although it is all exploitation, please forgive my offense, but it may be more appropriate to say so at this time. Your Excellency, Russia is at least our brother who has separated from us. France is just looking for a thug."

"Or in a word, cannon fodder. France is still a threat to Russia, and that's why I want the war to end quickly. In addition to this, if the Serbian army can be regularized, it will be able to rely on itself in future wars. Even if it still needs our support, it can at least hold out for a while longer. Besides, if the Serbian army can fight like the Russian army, you don't have to be afraid of the Turks, even the Austrians, just fight them."

The attitudes of both sides are indeed a bit explicit, but they are all smart people, so it is naturally easy to talk at this time.

Solovyov said this because he knew that the relationship between Serbia and Russia was only closer than that of other allies, but Russia would also give up some of Serbia's interests for its own benefit.

It would be easier to talk about it if we make it clear.

As for the regularized army, it also depends on how well the Serbs train their troops.

(End of this chapter)